Describe the Terms and Conditions of Own Contract of Employment Essay

My contract of employment covers Job Location, as regards to where I am based in my employment. A job description, which describes the duties and responsibilities of my post. Continuous service, this is my start date for the company even if in a different role. Criminal records bureau checks, this just states that the post is subject to a CRB check. Probationary period, this confirms length of probationary period , what is expected of you within that period and also what happens at the end of the probationary period. Pay, This describes how much I will be paid, any enhancements, pay scale and possible pay rises dependant on gaining certain qualifications. Payroll procedures, this describes how I will be paid, how often and when i will be paid, pay slip information, about the company’s rights to make deductions if over paid or if you left and owed holiday/money for training or crb and about advising the company of any change in personal details. Hours, this is brief information on hours I am expected to do and break entitlements. Holidays, describes my holiday entitlement, how to book it and when the leave year commences and ends. Notice period, information on length of notice needed to terminate employment by myself or company. Training, states that you are required to attend mandatory training and about the possibilities of further training. Sickness arrangements, details the procedure to follow if you are ill and statutory sick pay entitlements. Confidentiality, explain the need for confidentiality due to sensitive nature of the business whilst in service and after leaving. Data protection, informs of the need for the company to hold personal information on you.

Explore the Way Poets Portray Love in La Belle Dam Sans Merci with Reference to 5 Other Poems

Core Texts: La Belle Dame Sans Merci. A Ballard – John Keats Sonnet 116 – William Shakespeare My Last Duchess-Ferrara – Robert Browning Illumination Texts: Sonnet 18 – William Shakespeare Valentine – Carol Ann Duffy Porphyria’s Lover – Robert Browning In the above poems love is presented in 3 very different ways, twisted and false love, typically romantic forbidden love, and unchanging love. Twisted and controlling love is a theme that can be seen in some of Robert Browning’s poetry. My Last Duchess† is a dramatic monologue written in 1842 by Robert Browning. It is written in 28 rhyming couplets, with iambic pentameter, which dominates the poem. The conversational flow of the poem is created by making caesura and enjabment. The enjambed lines may indicate control that the speaker is exerting on the conversation and give the feeling that the speaker is rushing through parts of the poem, possibly smimming over the parts the show him in a unflattering light.When the Duke speaks of the death of his wife, for example, the lines running over suggest that he is nervous about the subject and is nervous of whether he is revealing too much about his envolvement and the caesuras also suggest to the reader that he is hiding something or that he is pausing to carefully think about his phrasing. However, perhaps on reflection, he then boast of his envolvement in line 45 – ‘i gave commands’ possibly showing his character as fake and mysterious, untrustworthy.We know that the Duchess died suspiciously and that the Duke is in the process of looking for a new wife, and suggesting he disposed of his old one. He is speaking to a messenger about a painting of his now deceased Duchess. The Duke, of course, is casting himself in a favorable light and is presenting his best side. He wants to make it look as if his wife was cheating on him and was unfaithful to him, showing he is not trust worthy. He is v ery controlling, and could not control her and her smiles or looks – line 24 – ‘too soon made glad, too easily impressed’.This smile was what the Duke likes the most about the painting of the Duchess–he feels that the painter accurately captured the smile and the ? ‘spot of joy’ in the Duchess. Now that the Duke owns this painting and has placed it behind a curtain, he can at last control who is graced with her smile. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When the Duchess was alive, the Duke could not control her smile and love for life and he considered her unfaithful. Other aspects of the Duke that remain unclear include his true character and his true feelings for the Duchess, whether he really ever loved her or not, remain unknown.As mentioned, he is presenting his best side, but through his speech the reader sees how he is very jealous and controlling, which leads one to believe that he may have many dishonorable qualities. With such a negative descri ption of the Duchess, suggesting she was unfaithful and lacking in refinement, it raises questions about the Duke’s true feelings for the Duchess. This is where the idea of twisted and false love. We question whether the Duke ever loved the Duchess or whether she was just another object for him to control and toy with for his own personal enjoyment and not becasue of true love for his wife.This twisted and somewhat controlling love can be seen in another of Browning’s poems. In both Porphyria's Lover and My Last Duchess, Browning describes a man who responds to the affection of a woman by controlling and ultimately killing her. Each monologue offers the speakers' reasons for his actions towards the desired woman from subject to his object. For example, we have already seen in My Last Duchess, the Duke may have murdered his wife out of jealousy, but decides to keeps a portrait of her behind a curtain so none can look upon her smile without his permission.Similarly in Po rphyria's Lover, the man wishes to preserve a single perfect moment between himself and Porphyria and so he kills his lover and sits all night embracing her carefully arranged body, as to enjoy the control he used to preserve the moment. In Porphyria’s Lover the man seems to become convinced that Porphyria wanted to be murdered, and claims â€Å"No pain felt she† while being strangled, adding, as if to reassure himself â€Å"I am quite sure she felt no pain. † Sonnet 116 portrays a stark contrast to the twisted and controlling love of My Last Duchess.The main theme of this poem is unchanging love, that love can weather any storm and overcome adversity. The sonnet comprises of 3 quatrains with a new thought at the start of it, with a couplet at the end. each idea in a quatrian is linked, with the help of the steady ABAB rhythm, however it is kept fresh and light with the inclusion of halft rhymes. Sonnet 116 is about love in its most ideal form. It is praising th e glories of lovers who have entered into a relationship based on trust and the understanding that trials and tribulations are a part of relationship.The first four lines reveal the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not â€Å"alter when it alteration finds. † It describes love as it ‘looks on tempest and is never shaken’ meaning that no matter what life presents, love can and does remain strong. it enstills a hope in love and relationships. The poet goes onto proclaim that true love is indeed an â€Å"ever-fix'd mark† which will survive any crisis. Through to line 10 we see the poet explain the physical changes that can occur suring relationships, but reassures that ageing, death and physical appearance will not phase death, descrbing love as a ‘bending sickle’.The remaining lines of the third quatrain (9-12), reaffirm the perfect nature of love that is unshakeable throughout time and will remain so â€Å"ev'n to t he edge of doom†, ie death. It also points out that those who find true love, don’t realise how much enrichment. The poet reminds us that love’s ‘worth [is] unknown’, meaning that love can give you strength you never had or knew existed. In the final couplet, the poet declares that, if he is mistaken about the constant, unmovable nature of true love, then he must take back all his writings on love.Moreover, he adds that, if he has in fact judged love inappropriately, no man has ever really loved, in the ideal sense that the poet professes and that his words are untruthful. This sonnet does not use as much romantic and poetic language as some of his othger sonnets, for example Sonnet 18. The reason for this, is to symbolise the reality of a relationship. sometimes it isnt always chocolates, roses and romantic poems. Often true love and real relationships has ups and downs, but one resounding idea is that features in this sonnet is that true love isnâ €™t easy, but ‘alters when alteration finds’ and ‘is ever fixed’.Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, like Sonnet 116, is a poem that portrays love in its rawest form, without the extraneous poetic gestures of love, and instead focusing on a realistic view of love and its hinderances. In the poem Duffy suggests these normal, cliched gestures of love are meaningless and instead gives her lover an onion instead of a rose – ‘I give you an onion'. Duffy looks at the ways an onion is suitable for showing love. She tells her lover what an onion will do for him and uses the onion as symbol. The onion could represent patience, discovery and tears.The onion represents the tough side of love and the truth about love. The demure and almost humble description of the onions outer skin described as ‘ the moon wrapped in brown paper’ evokes the idea that love may seem boring when you first experience it, but if you take the time to look beneath the so calle dboring exterior, there is a inner beaty and radiance. This is realised with the word ‘light’, referrin to moon light. The imagery used in this poem is poetic, yet still holds true to the style of Sonnet 116, ie realism. The moon, may promise light – but doesn’t always deliver.Duffy appears to be warning of trusting too much in the promises of romantic partners. ‘The careful undressing of love’ may reveal a person’s true character and motives under the veneer of romantic vows, again critising the cliche romantic type. ?The poet goes on to cleverly create an image of tear-filled eyes – ‘It will blind you with tears like a lover. It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief. ’ Here she refers to the stinging, burning properties of onions, using a technique which causes readers to try and visualise seeing through tear-filled eyes by the use of language such as ‘blind,’ ‘tears,â€⠄¢ ‘reflection’ and ‘wobbling. These words all evoke memories of trying to view images through tears. She likens stinging hurts caused by insensitive loves and the blurred vision and sore eyes caused by crying and emotional pain to those created by an onion. La Belle Dame Sans Merci. A Ballard is portyas perhaps the most classically romantic type of love. Often passionate, poetic and short lived, this type of love is well represented in this poem, although it does have many interpretations. The style and language of the poem is very romantic, while theme can be interpretted as forbidden love.In the poem a young knight meets a beautiful woman, who is so described as ‘ a faeries child’. This description immediately gives us the impression that this young woman is not of the mortal world. There are many stories surrounding relationships between mortals and immortals, and they are often thought to be forbidden. The barrier between these two worlds often l eads to unhappiness as the immortality of one partner creates problems in the relationship in many myths for example Persephone and Hades.The first glimpse we get that the relationship between the knight and the fairy may be forbidden is when the poet says ‘she wept and sighed full sore’ – line 30. It is possible that the fairy is weeping as she knows the realtionship is doomed from the start, that the couple cannot stay together, as the crossover between mortal and imortal world is precluded. She may be powerless to stop the fate of the knight, and is feeling guilty for what she imposed on the knight.As the fairy is unable to help him escape his fate, she tries to comfort him as best she can, – line 33- ‘and there she lulled me to sleep’. As he sleeps the knight is shown the fate of a man like him, one who has had this fate placed upon him. he is not quite sure if it is a dream, or if he has entered his fate, shown by the constant switching o f scenery, from lakeside to hillside -lines 40-44. This dream like state relays back to the romantic love and the idea of dreams, beautiful fairies and other worlds were all romantic ideas, common at the time.This romantic, poet desciption of the knights lover, scenery and dreams are not dissimilar to one of the most famous sonnets. In Sonnet 18 the poet begins by asking whether he should compare â€Å"thee† to a summer day. He says that his beloved is more lovely and more even-tempered. He carries on, saying that everything beautiful eventually fades by chance or by nature’s inevitable changes. Coming back to the beloved he writes about, though, he argues that his or her summer won’t fade nor will his or her beauty fade away.Moreover, death will never be able to take the beloved and concludes that as long as humans exist and can see, the poem will live on, allowing the beloved to keep living as well. This poem is has the classic romantic and poetic language, th e best instance being the comparison of the subjects beauty to the transient beauty of nature, as the lady in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, is described in realtion to nature. However the poet goes on to argue that the subjects beauty is the opposite to natures, as summer can be too hot and short etc – ‘summer’s lease hath all too short a date’.

Measuring Media Effectiveness in Bangladesh Essay

The media consists mainly of television, radio, press, internet and cinema. This huge amount of money is spent on advertising primarily to create:Advertising/Total Brand Awareness: Consumer has been introduced to or reminded about the brand Brand Familiarity: Consumer recognizes specific brand names Brand Imagery: Consumer agrees with positive attributes specific to individual brands Purchase Intent: Consumer intends to purchase the brand So, as a big amount of money is associated to the media, the marketers strive o know how useful these media will be in achieving these goals. Marketers have become increasingly aware of the implications of a changing media landscape. For example, continuing media fragmentation means that a more complex array of media plans are possible. Given that some media plans will be much more successful than others at engaging with consumers and delivering marketing profitability, marketers want to know how to increase the odds of finding the optimal media mix to achieve marketing success. 1. 1 Motivation and Rationale of Study People from different demographic groups are exposed to media in different ways. And also not everyone is exposed to all the media. So it is very important for the marketer to know which media will be appropriate to reach his target market and when and how that media should be used. The marketer has to know how effective will a media be to achieve the marketing goals. There are several Medias like television, press, radio, internet and cinema and hence the marketer needs to know which media will bring out the best outcome from his advertisements. Because if the marketer cannot reach the target market with the selected media, the allocated budget will be wasted and the marketing goals will not be achieved This research paper has tried to solve these problems of the marketer by giving an idea about the media context of Bangladesh. This research explains how useful the television, radio, print and internet media will be in creating:Advertising/Total Brand Awareness: Consumer has been introduced to or reminded about the brand Brand Familiarity: Consumer recognizes specific brand names Brand Imagery: Consumer agrees with positive attributes specific to individual brands Purchase Intent: Consumer intends to purchase the brand 1. 2 Method of Study The method used for this research was Personal in home survey where the researcher personally visited the respondents with the questionnaire and asked and explained the questions to the respondents. So the respondent understands the questions very clearly and can think before they answer. A sample size of 100 was selected through convenient sampling method but also special care has been taken about maintaining a fair mix of different age groups and genders to get an unbiased result. As this research only attempts to measure the media effectiveness, so the following 2 assumptions/hypothesis are made:1. All media are equally expensive 2. All advertisements are of equal quality These two assumptions are made to eliminate the errors in measuring the media effectiveness. Because if these two assumptions are accepted then the success of the advertisement will solely depend on which media was used. 1. 3 Overall Objective The overall objective of this research paper is to measure the effectiveness of media in Bangladesh by finding out the influence of each media on achieving the marketing goals.

Pricing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pricing - Research Paper Example Ideally, skimming refers to setting high prices based on the value of the product (Holden and Burton 51). The features of the new washing machine are likely to excite the customers, creating no need for the company to opt for a discounted pricing strategy. The financial value of the product is strength to the organization. The new washing machines is built on new technology that requires very little water and energy to clean clothes. Therefore, customers are unlikely to put cost into consideration and instead consider the functionality of the washing machine. According to Holden and Burton (51), most customers buy a product due to the service they receive from the product, and not on price. In fact, very few customers choose to buy a product due to pricing, leaving the biggest customer base on the service side. Low pricing could make the customers perceive the washing machine as inferior. A low price intended to attract more sales might lead to decrease in sales in the later days, as customers’ debate on the standards of the product. Cheap products are considered to be of substandard quality while highly priced products are considered to be of high quality. ... A machine using little water and energy to clean is likely to be exactly what the market needs presently. An evaluation of various cost benefits the machine is likely to bring to homesteads is enticing enough for a person to be lured to purchase the machine. Imagine a machine that uses much less energy and even much less water to do the same amount of washing just like an ordinary washing machine? Is that not exciting good news? Out of all possible considerations, my price would not be based on either competition or willingness to buy by the customers. Penetration strategy is the war of prices where companies slash their prices with huge margins as they compete to retain their market share amidst overwhelming competition. Penetration strategy mostly applies to the period of growth where customers have understood the product while competition is still high (Holden and Burton 52). The product at this period still enjoys customer loyalty due to tested and experience with use. However, i n other cycles of a product such as maturity stage, penetration strategy is likely to fail and thus prevent the company from realizing all the intended profits. Understanding the type of market the company is operating in is important in setting the right prices. For an emerging market, the product is still new and customers are still willing to use the product. The company is rolling out this product to an emerging market, where customers are most likely to buy the product regardless of the price. When making my decision regarding the price for the machine, information such as customers’ trust to Whirlpool’s products will be helpful. Trust means that people already know

Standard Deviation as a Risk Indicator for Investment Purposes Essay

Standard Deviation as a Risk Indicator for Investment Purposes - Essay Example 41, 2003). However, over the years, many experts and researchers have also tried to point fingers at this approach trying to highlight its serious shortcomings. This paper is an attempt to capture a glance of that debate and critically analyze the use of standard deviation as a risk indicator for investment purposes. Discussion Standard deviation, in finance, is one of the widely used indicators of risk associated with any given security such as bonds, stocks, properties, commodities and others. Standard deviation allows the investors to predict and anticipate the behaviour of the security in the near future (Bhansali, pp. 34-35, 2010). Simply, standard deviation, which is square of the variance, tells the investors that how much they can expect the price of the security to deviate from its mean returns (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Therefore, securities with high standard are more likely to show violate behaviour but the ones with low standard deviation are more likely to show c onsistent behaviour. Quite understandably, the former type of securities will have a great risk and later would be less risky (Wander & D'Vari, pp. 36, 2003). Investors are interested in the values of standard deviation because that helps greatly in the process of portfolio construction and management. A risk adverse investor will only select a handful of securities high standard deviation in terms of its returns and mix that up with securities having lower standard deviation in order to offset the impact of risk and enjoy stable returns (Gravetter & Wallnau, pp. 22, 2010). First, the biggest and the most important shortcoming of standard deviation as the measure of investment risk is rooted in the fact that it assumes normal distribution of values and they are poor measures of risk when it comes to asymmetric distribution. In normal distribution, the values are distributed equally to both sides of the graph; however, in any asymmetrical distribution one tail of the graph, either po sitive or negative side has greater concentration of values (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Therefore, standard deviation fails to give an exact picture of the possible variation in the values. Even the father of the concept of financial engineering, Harry Markowitz has admitted, â€Å"Downside variance is more accurate than standard deviation when it comes to financial risk analysis†. This is true because not only many investing portfolios have asymmetrical distribution but their distribution is skewed positively as well (Haslett, pp. 264, 2010; Connor, Goldberg & Korajczyk, pp. 88-89, 2010). Second, like many other statistical measures of risk computation in finance, standard deviation relies heavily on historical data and there is no guarantee that historical trends will continue in the future as well (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Furthermore, the period undertaken to calculate standard deviation is also of great importance. For example, the standard deviation of sto cks for the period of 2002-2006 may show lower standard deviations for most of the stocks, however, the standard deviation computed over the last five years will show higher standard deviation for many of the stocks (Gravetter & Wallnau, pp. 22, 2010; Brigham & Houston, pp. 74-75, 2009). Therefore, it

Formal report Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal report - Research Proposal Example Furthermore, the platform has made it possible for the company to conduct research at very low costs, understand aspects that cause changes in tastes and preferences of the customers, and make changes when they are needed in order to prevent customers from shifting towards the substitutes in the market. With the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies, the level of competition in the local market has increased tremendously. This results from the entry of multinational companies which have a huge financial base to segment the market, position their products strategically in the market, and attract the loyalty of the customers towards their products and services. However, since the inception of Apple Inc, the company has been recording tremendous growth. Initially, the company was using traditional marketing methods, i.e. use of audio, visual, and print media. Nevertheless, after intense competition from Samsung, Huawei, and Sony, the company shifted to social media marketing. Social media enables the company to reach a global market. Currently, the largest market segment composes of the young generation. This is a segment that has a disposable income which they are willing to use in purchasing high quality products irrespective of their price. Since the entry of the internet in the market, young people have been able to access the social media. This has been facilitated by the lowering of prices of gadgets such as phones, tablets, Ipads, etc. As a result, majority of the young people have turned towards the social media in order to look for their products of choice. This creates a good advertising platform to the company (Hasan 2013). Apple Inc has been able to tap this opportunity through setting up a specific department mandated with advertising its products in the social media. This has played a significant role in increasing

SpotifyTM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SpotifyTM - Essay Example Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Discussion 5 Overview of the Online Music Industry 5 Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis 6 VRIN Analysis 7 Analyzing Spotify’s Strategies 8 Information Technology in Spotify 9 Conclusion 10 References 12 Introduction Spotify is a Swedish company involved in providing music streaming services. The streaming content provided by the company is availed from a number of independent and major record labels (Gilmour, 2011). Some of the major content providers of the company include Warner Music Group, Universal, EMI and Sony. Spotify was founded in the year 2006 and is currently headquartered in London,  United Kingdom. The company however started to provide music streaming services from the year 2008. Within two years of its operation, the total membership of the company reached 10 million and between them around 2.5 million were paid members. According to latest reports, as of 2012 the total paid membership of the company reached more than 5 million (Barker, 2012). ... Recently, the company expanded its wings to countries such as Australia, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Denmark, Austria, Finland, France, New Zealand, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Andorra, the Netherlands, Monaco, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. This report will evaluate the strategies of the company with the help of several strategic frameworks. In addition, the report will also shed light on the strategic role played by information technology towards the progress of the company. However, the report will mainly emphasize on how the company is using information systems to support their business strategy. The report will begin by providing a brief overview of the digital music industry. Discussion Overview of the Online Music Industry The digital music industry can be broadly classified into two segments: the digital download market and streaming market. The digital music industry is one of the new business segments and is growing at a rapid pace. According to reports, in 2012 the revenue of this industry witnessed a growth of 8 % from 2011 and is presently valued at $5.2 billion (Thomes, 2011). However most of the revenue is generated by digital download business and the streaming market contributes only 10 % of the total revenue. Interestingly, the growth rate of the streaming market is more. Companies belonging to this industry, principally differentiate themselves on the basis of regions of operation, licensed music libraries, features, and also the packaging. Apart from that, companies are also offering several value added services which allow the users to know what their friends

Interdependence and Independence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interdependence and Independence - Essay Example 201). In support of the observations, people are, in the modern times, learning about becoming independent. People no longer wish to share their concerns with others. This is because they tend to create social security for their private matters. Culture is fading away slowly and gradually, it does not significantly affect the decisions made by the people. For instance, if someone has issues with their spouse, culture would dictate that they continue living together. This should not be the case as people have the right to make their own independent decisions. An individual’s needs are more important than the community’s needs. People are more important than their communities are. The community regulates the rules and regulations that involve assisting one another. The rules advocate for community coexistence, getting it wrong. People in the community should push for what is beneficial to their lives. A person cannot seek for the rights of the community at the expense of their own benefit. I will raise my children differently from the way I was raised. It is important to appreciate and respect their efforts and decisions. There is need to encourage them to become independent thinkers. This is because they must be accountable for their own decisions and actions. Parents should only provide their children with guidance, in order to have them make the right choices in life. Through independence, individuals are able to understand themselves. They realize their uniqueness and acquire the ability for self-development. Independence affects the personality of an individual positively because they act without other people’s influence. People are able to keep their thoughts and feelings as secrets, increasing their internal activity. Independence gives an individual a sense of control over their lives. It is important to listen to parents whenever they give

The Role of Strategic Human Resource Management in Small Sized Firms Research Proposal

The Role of Strategic Human Resource Management in Small Sized Firms - Research Proposal Example This project will take a quantitative approach in which statistical data will be collected and analyzed before coming up with amicable conclusions. The project is expected to take a span of two months after which the results will be presented. For the purpose of this research, 20 small firms will be surveyed and data collected from two members of the human resource department. Questionnaires and oral interviews will be used to collect data. If affirmed, this project is expected to cost approximately $5,000 which will be used to meet the expenses of the whole process. The institution will also request for an office in which will be used as the center of research for the two months that the project will last. Other materials such as the recording instruments and stationery will be obtained from the institution’s bookshop. This survey will investigate the significance of strategic HR in small business firms. If affirmed, the findings of this research will help small business organizations to reform their HR to achieve better production from their employees. In the 21st century, the ability of a business organization to engage effective strategic management is a necessary competence. Pearce and Robinson (1994) define strategic management as the process of designing, implementing and evaluating the functional structures of a business organization that are necessary to meet the organizational goals. The human resource management forms part of the top level management that is involved in the implementation of strategic management. This research seeks to investigate the role of human resource managers in small business firms. Over time, strategic management is a term that has evolved to refer to all the operations conducted by the organizational heads that contribute to the productivity of the organization. Beaver (2007) and McCarthy (2003) noted that business that the concept of strategic management has evolved to be a term relevant only to large  business organizations.  

Warfare in Medieval Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Warfare in Medieval Japan - Essay Example During the Nara period, conscription policy did not distinguish between a warrior and a peasant, which resulted in an army that suffered from poor organization because of the presence of unwilling farmers and government failure to devise regular system of promotion or command. Prior to 789 reforms in Japan’s army system with new regulations that necessitated the use of trained warriors together with men specially selected for their strength and prowess, imperial army was humiliated in 724. The year saw Yemeshi people revolt killing the governor of the province of Mutsu and seizing much of Japan’s mainland. Military power was the province of samurai families with two clans comprising many warrior households became the main security of the Imperial and the clans were Minamoto and Taira (Ratty and Westbrook 80). Another clan, the Fujiwara at the time dominated both Imperial court and the nation, grew its impact with soft life and intricate politics in the capital, which co ntained the seeds of disaster (Brinkley 4). However, the Fujiwara experienced their its first danger in 930 when the Fujiwara attempted the customary maneuver of putting a child in throne, a son eight years old named Shujaku, since the clan had selected Tadahira for the role (Kane 48). During Tadhira’s rule, Taira Masakado a warrior in Japan aspired to be a governor in his native province; however, Tadhira appointed his companion in a debauch manner, a man named Sadabumi. This made Masakado return to his home in disgust and even though he did not instantly get involved in a revolt, he was involved in family feuds. From his actions, Masakado became an outlaw to the Imperial court and instead of submitting to punishment of rulers that he detested, he raised a revolt. In 1159 rivalry in Fujiwara family created another upheaval with a dispute that concerned imperial succession with emperor Go-shirakawa abdicating in favor of his son and Fujiwara Shinzei supporting the ex-emperor. In an open battle, once the Taira household assembled its army the households met in the battle where Taira and Shinzei won a stupendous victory. Thus, the Fujiwara no longer ruled by their power and Taira Kiyomori, a man whose martial skills twice shaped the nation’s future, took advantage of the situation and crushed several conspiracies against his life (Kane 49). The Gen and Pei war that ended in 1183 with a naval battle at Dan-no-ura, saw Minamoto forces’ 800 ships attack Taira’s fleet of 500 in a battle that involved gaining the upper hand. When Minamooto secured defection of Taira admiral Tomomori, the Taira suffered total defeat as their samurai struggled to protect the ship carrying the infant emperor (Van Bergen 41). Emperor Antoku took the throne and the victorious Yoritomi paid long visits to the imperial capital seeking the office of Sei-i-tai-Shogun, the supreme military leader of the country, which he later gained. Though in the past emperors app ointed military leaders for brief periods in order to see the nation through certain crises, Minamoto Yoritomi ensured the office became permanent (Kane 50). Hideyoshi managed to impose control as well as peace and government, which partly lay in his diplomatic skills. Moreover, Hidoyeshi fought several fights campaigns against internal enemies, which ended not in military victories but with treaties in which rival clans received an active stake in the fresh Japanese order. Hideyoshi success lay in the ruthless

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Research Paper - 6

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness - Research Paper Example In the last few decades, globalization has become a crucial factor in business, as it affects business in different ways. In the case of Kmart, globalization has led to increased competition in the market. For instance, Target and Wal-Mart are new entrants in the market, having come after Kmart. These later replaced Kmart as the leading retailer. In addition, consumers today have a wide range of options to choose from. With increased technology that comes with globalization, consumers in America can now shop from other international companies, out of America. Being operational only in Guam, the United States, and Puerto Rica, Kmart has not stabilized and diversified enough to adapt to the competition that is globalization presents. In addition, the company has not adopted technology to the required global standards, therefore, cannot fully exploit new business opportunities globally (Turner, 2003). Technology is an important factor in companies today, considering the benefits it presents. In Kmart, the factor of technology made it lag behind and lose it to Wal-Mart. This is because Kmart took a long period to adopt technology to the standards of its competitors. Wal-Mart, which is Kmart’s main competitor, used technology since the early 1970,s as the key to its success. During these years, the company used computers in its stores, electronic cash registers, and used scanners to read UPC bar codes. Later, Wal-Mart started using virtual documents in placing orders and receiving shipping notices. Since Kmart did not take the initiative of integrating technology in its business, this made Wal-Mart have all the competitive advantage, as advanced technology brought effectiveness in the business. However, during the end of 1980s Kmart started to adopt advanced technology in its business process gradually. Nonetheless, the sluggish adoption of technology due to lack of

Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Essay Example for Free

Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Essay There is no definition of abnormal psychological which has approval by the psychological social groups. Although, knowing of ones abnormal mindset is essential in assessing personal behaviors in determining what is intended (Hansell Damour, 2008). Abnormal social content is often looked upon as personal behavior opposing to social normality. This structure is essential in analizing the abnormal mindset and focus to accurately filter conduct presented whether unusual or usual. This paper will determine the start of what presents abnormal mindset and how the developement is originated for use scientifically. Lastly, the paper will inspect the psychodynamic, humanistic and existential, behavioral, cognitive, sociocultural, family support and biological theoretical areas important to the strength of abnormal psychology. Origins of Abnormal Psychology The development of abnormal mindset can be transcribed for thousands of years. To this date, people have evolved in specified cases of undesired conduct. Historically, unusual conduct is seen as biological, psychological outcomes seen also as supernatural factors (Hansell Damour, 2008). The observation of unusual conduct is often believed individuals acknowledge the idea of depletion of bad spirits, devils, and intities (Hansell Damour, 2008). As far back as the Mesolithic period, normal practices of torture would be practiced to those who displayed unusual conduct to be pardoned. Additionally, the use of exorcisms was performed to extinguish the existance of paranormal activities. Additionally, in the Roman era the chemicals in an individuals head would be released to extinguish the individuals from unusual conduct. This tyoe of consequence was passed on into the Dark Ages; Europeans viewed this conduct as psychological disease which drew evil spirits to such individuals for posse ssion. Torture was practiced on individuals who presented unusual behaviors, and was common to relinquish an evil spirt for centuries. Challenges to Defining and Classifying Normal and Abnormal Behavior Though an individual can present unusual conduct, he or she is viewed as one who violates expectations or rules in a society or culture (Hansell Damour, 2008). A lack of understanding is particularly notable because of various traditions and culture is viewed differently in consideration of the beliefs of certain traditions. An example is, a typical American will eat at a fast food chain for a quick bite at the work place, whereas many cultures from euopean all the way to middle eastern will bring his or her ethnic food to ingest, but do not condone this type of conduct. On the flip side, woman in the Middle East receive harsh abuse and it is not against the law for men to treat woman this way, but in the United States it is against the law for men to abuse their woman and he will receive a criminal offense for such behavior. In other words, it depends on the culture to consider if the unusual conduct violates law or social acknowledgement, decisions are relatively complex from area to area. Unusual conduct can affect people negatively presently, but may be viewed as usual conduct in the future. How Abnormal Psychology has evolved into a Scientific Discipline The scientific element concept within the unusuwl aspects of psychology was developed by Hippocrates, a greek doctor. Hippocrates believed biological patterns are responsible for such unusual conduct. Hippocrates believed through biological cause an individual will be more likely to be cured from such illness. Also, Hippocrates referred the brain as a componant being responsible for an individual’s intelligence, awareness and cleverness. With such reference, these components play a significant role in how an individual displays his or her conduct (Hansell Damour, 2008). Historically, thousands of years ago, individuals who displayed unusual conduct were labled as witches, or unusual conduct would draw in devils. The frequent attendance of church would increase because of the severity of such fear of evil. Following, the enligtenment era develoloped where unusual conduct was analysed throughly before considered a consequence for various discrepancies of an individuals brain fu nctions, an acceptance was generally regarded as a psychological disease that accounted for the use of various remedies that were implemented (Hansell Damour, 2008). Development of Abnormal Psychology: Biological and Theoretical Perspectives Unusual psychology on a biological viewpoint invests with the unusual acts that rooy from an inbalance within the brain. The use of psychotropic medications are used on a theraputic regimen to help elliviate symptoms; additionally, treatments used such as electro- convolsive therapy , and psychdynamic hypothisis to aid human contact on influences psychological through the unconscious mind (Hansell Damour, 2008). For most part, an individual’s conduct is essential and is charactorized from a previous experience. Psychoanalysis is used as an approach in the theraputic needs. The use of the behavioral model is essential when conditioning is relevent. Depending on the situation, the use of operant and classical conditioning are considered (Hansell Damour, 2008). Therefore, unusual conduct, and its reactives are performed to elleviate psychological disorders through the conditiining process and behavioral therapy to cure such disorder. In the 1960s, Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck implemented the cognitive approach to establish cognitive function using procedures to open conduct, stimulate ideas, feelings which establish personality and individual attitudes (Hansell Damour, 2008).

Consequence Global warming

Consequence Global warming Introduction Climate change and a consequence global warming can be seen all around us. It has already started shaping each and every aspect of our lives in more than one ways: from how we travel to what products we buy to where we live. Hence, there is a concern that the use of non-renewable fuels and other human activities are increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. To avoid this, enthusiasm is spreading for cap-and-trade systems to regulate the amount of CO2 emitted to Earths atmosphere. A new currency is emerging in world markets. Unlike the dollars, Euros and yen that trade for tangible goods and human services, this new money exchanges for pollutionparticularly emissions of carbon dioxide, which are caused by burning fossil fuels and are the leading cause of global climate change. Carbon credits, as they are called, are poised to transform the world energy system and thus the world economy. Carbon credits are used as a currency that allows companies and individuals to compensate their carbon emissions. This is done by either reducing carbon dioxide release directly or through offsetting their GHG outputs. Carbon Credits originated historically from The United Nations Clean Development Mechanism which was under the Kyoto Protocol. It allows a fixed quantity of carbon credits to be traded. It is important for people to limit their impact on the environment and buy carbon credits to offset what they cant reduce and work towards reducing their offsets. Carbon trading as per the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a big business in the open markets. Projects such as development of renewable energy, improving polluting industries, and planting carbon absorbing sinks are being funded by carbon credits. Companies and people are becoming carbon conscious by reducing their emissions. Many types of events and workings can generate carbon offsets. Renewable energy such as the wind farms, solar panels, geothermal energy, bio energy and small hydro turbines can create carbon offsets by replacing fossil fuels. Other varieties of offsets available for sale in the market include those including methane capturing from landfills or livestock, destruction of harmful greenhouse gases such as halocarbons, and carbon removal projects (such as reforestation) that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Emission levels are increasing around the world and this has resulted in a number of companies wishing to buy more carbon credits. This would result in an increase in its market price and this would encourage businesses to perform more eco-friendly activities which would create more carbon credits to sell. Developed countries spend nearly $400-450 for every ton of reduction in CO2, as compared to $10-$25 spent by developing countries. Indias GHG emission is below the target and therefore, it can sell surplus credits to other countries. India is considered to possess about 31% of the total world carbon trade. This implies a trade opportunity of $25bn by 2010.This makes trading in carbon credits such a major business opportunity. Indiahas emerged as the leading horse in this race. More than 300 Indian entities have proceeded with their application for registering their CDM Project to avail carbon credits. Currently,1 carbon credit is worth 14 Euros. Indian companies can pose higher incomes from carbon credits as compared to their core business. The global carbon credit market was estimated $30 billion last year andis it is growing at tremendous pace. There is a need and a consequent demand to reduce 1 billion ton of carbon emissions in the world, in order to deal with threats like global warming. Indian companies have realized that money can be earned by becoming eco-friendly. With new infrastructure sector like power and steel developing in India, the carbon credit market will gain stature. The 800 million farming community in India also has an opportunity to sell Carbon Credits to developed nations. Companies like Wal-Mart, Dell and GE are going GREEN and purchasing carbon credits. These companies are improving their brand name, consumer confidence in their products. Global Warming Some Facts Global Warming Phenomenon Global warming has brought about one of the biggest challenges for planet earth in the 21st century. There is a global concern about the adverse impact of the emission of greenhouse gas (GHG) on the planet earths climate. Global warming is a phenomenon of gradual increase in earths temperature as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases. This is mainly due to two reasons: increase in human activities which have led to an increased production of Greenhouse Gases, and a reduction in the Earths natural Carbon Dioxide due to Deforestation. The green house effect has led to an increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the earths surface. Shortwave light comes from the sun to the earth, and it passes unimpeded through a cover of greenhouse gases composed mainly of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Infrared radiation reflects off the planets surface toward space but does not easily pass through the thermal blanket. Some of it is trapped and reflected downward, keeping the planet at an average temperature suitable to life, about 60 °F (16 °C). Increase in the quantity of greenhouse gases is trapping more heat and increasing global temperatures, making a process that has been beneficial to life potentially disruptive and harmful. The major natural greenhouse gases on Earth are Greenhouse Gases % of Greenhouse Effect Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 70% Methane (CH4) 20% Nitrous Oxide 5% Fluorinated Gases 5% The atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 31% and 149% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. These levels are considerably higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years. Effects of Global Warming Action must be taken against greenhouse effect, otherwise it could lead to an increase in average global temperature between 2 and 4 degrees and this could happen as early as the year 2030. This increase in temperature would be more towards the poles as compared to the tropics. This would also result in more winters becoming warmer. Such an increase will make the world hotter than it has ever been in the last 100,000 years. The rate of increase in temperature will also be faster than ever before. Just a comparison, a rise of approx 3 degrees Celsius after the ice age took many thousands of years. By the end of this century temperatures can reach those that were in the time of the dinosaurs making the survival of humans impossible. The effects can already be seen- the ten hottest years since the 18th century have been in the previous 15 years. Hurricanes will occur more frequently as oceans heat up resulting in increased water evaporation. Evidence is building at an dangerous rate. Droughts Continental areas will dry out in summer. Floods Sea levels are currently rising at a rate of around 1 mm each year due the top layer expansion of the oceans as they heat up and the polar ice caps melts. The predicted increase in the sea level by 2050 is between 20 and 50mm. This will cause greater flooding in coastal and low lying areas. Carbon Emission A major feature One of the major greenhouse gases is the carbon dioxide gas (CO2). Trees grow and they absorb CO2 from the air. Forest clearance and the burning of wood (tropical rain forests) are adding the CO2 to the atmosphere. Deforestation is getting out of control. The loss of the forests implies that there are lesser trees to absorb CO2. Despite deforestation making a large contribution towards global warming, it causes lesser contribution than half the yearly total CO2 released, the remaining and major part comes from burning coal, fossil fuels and oils. The fossil fuels are consumed in cars, power stations and factories. Nearly half of the CO2 which is released by burning fossil fuels is absorbed back by the oceans. It is taken up by sea life or it is dragged to the ocean depths by the circulation of water. Recent studies have suggested that as the earth heats up, the oceans will become less efficient in absorbing Carbon di-oxide, leaving more of CO2 in the atmosphere and hence adding further to global warming. The following Pie Chart shows the various countries globally responsible for increasing shares of carbon dioxide emission. Source: news.mongabay.com Efforts to contain Global warming It is imperative to slow down the global warming as much as possible. This would in effect happen by using less fossil fuel, eliminating the uses CFCs altogether, and stopping irregular deforestation. This can be done through energy conservation, better use of public transport, more efficient cars, and energy efficiency by greater use of alternative sources of power which produces less CO2 than conventional sources and through renewable energy such as solar power. We have to stop deforestation of rain forests and start afforestation. A United Nations research panel has estimated that we should reduce global fuel use by 60% immediately so that we can stabilize the climate changes. Current commitments by some governments participating in CO2 reduction will lower global CO2 by just 4 6%. The developed industrialized nations produce most of the CO2, the developing nations of South America and Asia are increasing their CO2 release at a much greater rate, and by 2012 they will overtake the Western countries as the major producers of CO2. KYOTO PROTOCOL OVERVIEW Kyoto Protocol A response to curtail Global Warming The Kyoto Protocol acts as an amendment to the international treaty of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (â€Å"UNFCCC†). It pledges mandatory emission norms to the nations who have signed the protocol for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It was established December 11, 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. Countries that ratify this protocol pledge to reduce their CO2 and five other greenhouse gases emissions, and/or engage in emissions trading if they increase emissions of these gases. The Kyoto Protocol now encompasses more than 160 countries around the globe and more than 60% of countries in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol works upon a collective reduction of 5% compared to 1990 levels by 2008-2012. This treaty expires in 2012 and international talks have already begun in May 2007 to chalk out a new future treaty to succeed the current one. Source: IPCC Third Assessment Report. 2001 Climate Change : The Scientific Basis. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Green house gases have a disastrous effect on global warming with varying proportions. This intensity is measured by the global warming potential of the gas. The GWP of carbon dioxide is one. One tonne of HFC-23 gas, for example, has 11,700 times more green house effect as compared to CO2. CERs are awarded on the basis of global warming potential of the gas. CER to a gas = Tonnes of green house gas reduced X Global Warming Potential of the Gas Features of Kyoto Protocol As per the Kyoto Protocol, Governments have been divided into two broad categories: Developed countries (they have accepted GHG emission reduction obligations and they are mandated to submit an annual greenhouse gas inventory report) Developing countries (they have no GHG emission reduction obligations but they can participate in Clean Development Mechanism) As per the rules, Any Annex I country which fails to meet the Kyoto obligation would be penalized by been mandated to submit 1.3 times its emission allowances in the second commitment period for every ton of GHG emissions cap they exceed in their first commitment period. The objective of the protocol is the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.† It aims to Put a limit onclimate change and global warming Reduce arbitrary usage of fossil fuels and encourage development and use of renewable energy Encourage sustainable development Operation of Emission Trading System Mechanisms under Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol pioneered by defining three innovative and distinct â€Å"flexibility mechanisms† to reduce the overall costs of achieving the set emissions targets. These mechanisms enable countries and organizations to adopt cost-effective opportunities to reduce emissions and/or to remove carbon from the atmosphere. While the cost of putting a cap on emissions varies considerably from region to region, thebenefit for the atmosphere is the same, no matter where the action is taken. Joint Implementation (JI): The Kyoto Protocol provides clauses for developed countries to implement projects that reduce emissions, and/or remove carbon from the atmosphere as per the Emission Reduction Units (ERUs). These ERUs can be potentially used to meet the emission reduction targets. A JI project may involve, for example, replacing a coal-fired power plant with a more efficient combined heat and power plant. JI projects must have a prior approval of all the entities involved, and must lead to emissions reductions or removal that are additional to any that would have occurred without the project. International Emission Trading (IET): The Kyoto Protocol also provides that developed countries can get carbon units from other developing parties and use them for meeting their emissions target. This enables developed countries to use low cost opportunities to reduce emissions. Such countries must, consequently, be prepared to transfer units when they do not require them for compliance with their own emission targets.CER: Certified Emission Reduction Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Developed countries can take up GHG reduction project activities in developing countries where the cost of greenhouse gas reduction project activities is lower. The developed country would get the credits for meeting its emission targets. The developing country would get the capital and technology to implement the project. This technique is called Clean Development Mechanism. CDM covers projects in countries without any set targets, i.e. developing countries. Credits would be issued only for reductions if a project provides real and long-term climate change benefits. The main advantages for countries hosting CDM or JI emission reduction projects are the transfer of technology, attraction of foreign investment, and the contribution to the countrys sustainable development. GLOBAL SCENARIO The international CDM market has entered a high phase, having grown steadily after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect. The emission reduction targets during the first commitment phase of 2008 -12 for Annex II countries, are 713 Million tone CO2 eq. The initial national communication submitted by Annex I countries indicates a total demand of 846 Million tonne CO2 eq. per year based on the individual country commitment and action to reduce emissions. The Past highlights of the International carbon market are: In 2006, market traded an estimated 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) in all market segments compared to approximately 799 million tCO2e in 2005. Similarly, the financial value more than doubled from 2005 to 2006, with a total estimate of USD 22.5 billion for all market segments. In 2007, the market traded an estimated 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2e, at a total financial size of USD 23.6 billion. The projection for carbon market towards 2010 indicates With a high scenario, wherein the private sector predominates, the global carbon market can reach around USD 200 billion. With limited private sector participation and some speculations, it can be restricted to as low as USD 4.6 billion. It is estimated that the real market will be somewhere in between these two extremes with a forecasted carbon trade of USD 30 billion. INDIAN SCENARIO India is presently one of the world leaders in development of CDM projects. It is due to the Indian Designated National Authority that more than 297 project proposals with an emission reduction potential of over 297 million t CO2 have received the approval of the official host country. A wide range of project sizes and types in India help international buyers find the project of their choice or work upon a project portfolio to reduced risks. There is a huge evident potential for renewable energy generation from natural factors such as agriculture wastes, hydro and wind. Thermal electricity generation offers unlimited opportunities to improve energy efficiency. One example is the coal-fired power plants and the related transmission and distribution system. The chemical industry also allows reductions of industrial GHG which have large warming potentials The Carbon RUSH JSW Steel: The CDM has made environmental responsibility acceptable for India Industries. Recycle, reuse and reduce have become commercially viable as companies reprocess waste and heat, and cut down carbon emissions. Indias JSW Steel has been awarded about 5.4 million carbon credits, which includes 4 million carbon credits obtained from the single largest issuance of emissions permit by the U.N. to a Kyoto Protocol project. The 4 million credit issuance accounted for 6.5 % of the total 62 million CERs which were allocated by the UN. A total of around with 42 % of all issued credits have been assigned to ongoing projects in India. CERs were issued to two projects owned by JSW Steel for reducing greenhouse gas emissions between 2001 and 2006. Their CDM projects cut gases emitted through power generation from imported coal and waste gases from JSWs steel manufacturing operations. Current Problems with the Environment Integrity of CDM a practical perspective Unfortunately, despite pressure from the environmental community and other sectors, the CDM rules and the project design document still offer little guarantee of environmental integrity. The main weaknesses of CDM procedures in that regard include: The contribution to sustainable development including a transition away from ‘carbon dirty technologies and an emphasis on positive social and environmental impacts is often treated as an optional extra rather than a central project feature. Demand reform in CDM procedures so that there is transparency; accountability of different players (penalties on consultants and DOEs) Demand price negotiations have to be made public, otherwise will lead to corruption Demand simpler procedures (less convoluted methodologies for additionalityetc) so that meaningful projects can work Large public companies (GAIL, SAIL, IOCL, etc)are yet to take off with CDM business, due to lack of knowledge of CDM opportunities Potential in small and medium enterprises yet to be tapped Lack of transparency in CDM market Limited bilateral investment for project funding Governments role critical as a facilitator with different bilateral /multilateral organizations in organizing Carbon trade fairs or expos Number of Bilateral CDM projects need to be increased with more foreign investment for project funding Lack of awareness about CDM Tedious process High cost involved for documentation, validation and Monitoring Verification of emission reductions Inability of new promoters to bring in equity to be able to avail of financing As mentioned above, these problems stem in part from the weaknesses in the existing rules. At the same time, while it is possible that these flaws will be rectified by the CDM Executive Board in the near-future, the extreme pressure from investors to keep carbon prices at their lowest is forcing the project developers to cut corners. Business Implications The London financial marketplace has established itself as the center of the carbon finance market as a market for trading of the carbon emissions as per the Kyoto Protocol. This was estimated at $60 billion in 2007. The irony in the carbon trading endeavor could be noticed from the fact that it was the major multinational corporations who came together in the G8 Climate Change Roundtable, at the January 2005 World Economic Forum. This group was primarily a business group formed by 23 companies. Since, these corporations are the ones who have been chief proponents of ‘overconsumption, it seemed like a method by way of which they could clear their conscience of the damage that they were causing to the environment and planet earth. In June 2005 the Group published a statement stating that there was a need to act on climate change and the stress was on market-based solutions. The business in the UK and elsewhere have come out strongly in support of emissions trading as a key tool to limit the effects of climate change, and these efforts have been supported by Green NGOs. As per the Unites Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation FAO, approx 32 million acres of forests vanish each year, majority of them are in the tropics. The most important reason for forest clearing is the increasing need for agricultural land. The WWF has warned that if appropriate steps are not taken, more than 60 percent of the rain forests in the Amazon basin could disappear by 2030. Carbon trading was introduced by the Kyoto Protocol as a possible solution of the efforts to reduce GHG emissions to below 1990 levels by 2012. The mainstream idea was that the countries whose emissions are below the prescribed emissions could then sell those excess carbon credits to countries that do not meet their own caps. The caps are proposed to decrease over time and the price of carbon credits would rise due to scarcity. These signals towards a changing trend of carbon emission trading which would include a new global carbon emission based investment market, where companies and countries have incentives to invest in developing projects across the globe. All this is happening for the wrong reasons, as this is a method of obtaining the highly coveted carbon credits. This seems to be a sore point for those against carbon trading. As an example, Google has a market value of $200 billion, while all the worlds great forests are valued at nothing. The economic argument says that it makes it financially more appealing to countries not to allow their forests to be cut down. Moral tradeoff Some critiques of Carbon Emission Trading believe that there is a huge moral trade off in place. A study on child care centres in Israel showed that imposing monetary fines on late coming parents did not teach them a lesson in punctuality; in fact, this created an economic trade off as now the parents could voluntarily come late and get away by paying fines. Drawing an analogy from it, the carbon credit trading is on similar lines except that one firm can be willing to pay for extra emissions by compensating the other firm which reduces its carbon emissions. This increases a scarcity and hence the price of carbon pollution. Can the interests of both the rich the poor be served? The major concern about the entire carbon credit trading evolution is the belief that the carbon emission trading really serves rich nations only; the main stream issue being that carbon trading could put the vital resources of the developing world in the hands of developed nations who can then use carbon credits as a way to counter the reductions of their own GHG emissions at the same time. The World Bank recently launched the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), a fund which is financed by the leading countries such as UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. The $160 million fund would be used to support programs targeting the drivers of deforestation and develop concrete activities to reach out to poor people who depend on forests to improve their livelihoods. It will also help developing countries build the technical, regulatory, and sustainable forestry capacity to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. There has always been confusion over the exact role that the World Bank is trying to play in carbon trading market. The World Bank claims to be aiming at reducing global deforestation by 10 percent by 2010. But its critics claim the World Bank has traditionally been an exponent of deforestation. There has also been concern over the consequences of carbon trading scheme on local forest communities that earn their daily living from the forests. Substantiating with an example -In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the World Bank is facing opposition from Pygmy groups and local communities which rely on the Congo basin for their living. There have been reports that accuse the Bank of encouraging commercial logging practices while ignoring sustainable forestry and conservation. The report also claims that the financial benefits of logging have gone to foreign firms, not the local ones. This makes one wonder what the real intentions of the World Bank are. The Million Dollar Question!!! EMISSIONS TRADING COMMODIFIES Carbon. Does this Really Help Solve Climate Change problem? Exponents of carbon trading see markets as the best mechanism for reducing emissions. The critics, on the other hand, believe that carbon trading is a devils bargain that navigates the profits to polluters. You cant solve problems just by using money, the old saying goes. Capitalists have a monetary solution to problems and they believe that the markets are the solutions to everything. They reverse this equation by turning problems from money-hoarding pits to money-makers. Essentially, they try to seek the profit motive to ‘cure societys woes by transforming problems into commodities. This is the set strategy behind the emerging carbon trading markets. The Solution as per the Carbon Trading Proponents By trading the capped carbon emission rights, the rights become scarcer and hence more valuable. Cap-and-trade markets help solve climate change by lowering carbon emissions while generating wealth for the developing nations! If only it were so simple!!! The first contentious question is about how to distribute carbon emission rights: auction or allocation. In 2006, the experiment with carbon credit pricing came to a collapse when it became known that the EU was, either naively or corruptly, handing out too many emission rights to companies based on their estimates. Obviously, their emissions came out to be much lower which gave them a right to trade the left over unconsumed carbon credits. There seemed no real intention of reducing the carbon emissions. â€Å"The dirtier you are, the bigger your entitlement . . . the polluter was paid.† British journalist George Monbiot. The second problem with carbon trading is about mandatory versus voluntary markets. The US, the largest carbon emitter in the world has not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol. To fill this regulatory gap, voluntary carbon markets such as the Chicago Climate Exchange have sprouted up. With proper market design which implies no price cap and a financial penalty for non-compliance -carbon trading forces the movement to cleaner technology and consequent emissions reductions. Carbon trading critics charge and claim that the financial benefits overshadow environmental concerns. With the carbon price suppressed and lowered, polluters energy providers, utilities, oil companies etc have little incentive to curb the rising GHG emissions, thus making the current system undermine the environment and the planet. Also, critics see it as an extension of colonialist exploitation. The third problem relates to the monetary and economic aspect. In reality cap and trade carbon markets have done little to reduce emissions and are plagued by corruption and inefficiency. The worlds carbon trading markets are becoming increasingly complex and this threatens another sub-prime style financial crisis that could again destabilise the global economy. There is also a distinct smell of middlemen involvement. The majority of the trade is carried out not between polluting industries and factories covered by carbon trading schemes, but by banks and investors who profit from speculation on the carbon markets packaging carbon credits into increasingly complex financial products. Conclusion A rational reasoning Even as they gain popularity as a carbon mitigating solution, carbon offsets have often been dubbed under considerable criticism for diluting collective action against global warming. The truth, however, exists in between. Proponents exist on both sides of the debate. We all participate in the consumption of fossil-fuel energy. These emit large amounts of climate-changing CO2 and other GHG gases. The terms carbon offset and carbon neutral have been used as a misnomer it is actually the idea of erasing the negative impact of our daily carbon emissions which drives the carbon offset market and its related controversy. A rational reasoning says that â€Å"You cannot make up for the use of carbon buying the power of money to leverage yourself into a position of freedom from responsibility for emitting it once the damage is done, its done. Ultimately what it all boils down to is the question of choosing from the rich display of effective opportunities that can be adopted if necessary actions are taken while ignoring, at the same time, the capitalistic monetary solutions like offsets.

Most Influential Event in the 20th Century was the Cold War :: essays research papers

What event of the 20th century, not 21st, has had the greatest impact on the world in which we live today? Justify your answer and describe the relationship between the event you choose and the current state of global affairs. The 20th century was arguably the most eventful span of a hundred years ever. Innumerable wars (Including two World Wars), countless inventions and discoveries, space explorations, great achievements, Liberalization of various countries, have occurred during this span of time. I would pick out one such incident from the 20th century which has had a great impact- if not the greatest on the world. According to me, The Cold war which lasted for nearly forty-three years was a significant event in the 20th century. Although no official war was declared during this period of time between the United States of America and the then-U.S.S.R., it was a crucial face-off between these two superpowers to expand their influence over the globe.

A Look Into the Human Genome Project :: Science Technology Genetics Papers

A Look Into the Human Genome Project Would people buy a set of books that repeated the same four letters in random order page after page? Or would this information be more convenient to the public if on a computer disc? Many people would agree with the idea that this set of books would be boring. Surprisingly, America and the rest of the world are buying the information in this set of books. In fact, these books contain the human genome. The mapping of the genome (or writing this set of books) is a 15-year project that has brought many ethical issues to attention. History of the Human Genome Project The United States Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health joined forces in 1990 to kick off a 15-year effort to reach two goals: Catalog the genes in human DNA Determine the three billion bases (the four letters in the set of books) in human DNA that encode for genes (U.S. Dept. of Energy 1998). On the international level, the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) was founded. Their goal is to encourage trading of research findings and techniques (National Reference Center 1998). From the national standpoint it brings back memories of The Manhattan Project. Internationally, this cooperation is unprecedented (Shinn 1996). Before the organization of the Human Genome Project, the Department of Energy had biologists and physicists studying the Hiroshima survivors. From this data a GenBank was made. This was the first database for DNA sequences (Gert, et al. 1996). Watson, who won the Nobel prize for his discovery of the double helix, was appointed as the first director of the Human Genome Project. He appropriated three percent of his budget to ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) involved with the project (Shinn 1996). Even from the beginning it was anticipated that this project could have both positive and negative outcomes. One goal to be reached after five years was to have markers every ten centimorgans (Gert, et al. 1996). This goal was stated in 1991 and achieved in 1994 - a year ahead of schedule - when a map with markers every two to five centimorgans was published (Casey, et al. 1995). Sequencing would then follow with a focus on areas of disease and in reducing human error. The main goal for the next five years would be markers every one centimorgan (Gert, et al. 1996). Technical Aspects Ideally, the final map will have both physical and genetic information.

PARADISE FLUBBED: Pynchon & the New World Essay -- essays papers

PARADISE FLUBBED: Pynchon & the New World When, in Gravity's Rainbow, "A screaming comes across the sky," it is the sound of a V-2 rocket arcing up and over the English Channel.But the rocket's vapor trail (which Pirate Prentice sees from kneedeep in the primordial mulch of his bananararium) points further on: over the Atlantic, on toward America, the New World, Tyrone Slothrop's "yearned-for, perhaps illusory home." The rocket's path ends a fraction of an inch above the reader's head, the rocket suspended, poised ... A tableau representing the possibile if not quite realized Apocalypse.In his first novel, V., Pynchon explored the death-worshipping mania, the will-to-the-inorganic hubris, the sheer Gotterdamerà ¼ng gaga-ness of a Dying Europe.And the final scene from Gravity's Rainbow seems to (almost) complete that arc, to represent Europe's death rattle; a last gasp (and grasp)--as if the Old World, having given birth to the New, now wished to take that Other in a last suicidal embrace. Don't bother, says Vineland.We'll do it ourselves, eventually.Not by introducing some new evil into this New Eden, but simply by retro-fitting America with the same brutal mannerisms, the same authoritarian conceits, the same mania for Tidying Up that destroyed Europe--all of these urges which Pynchon sees as (in Fredric Jameson's terms) "necessary preconditions" for the rise to imperialist hegemony and colonialist cruelty, and the inevitable descent into fascist insanity. The "whiteness" of decay that looms over V. is for Pynchon inextricably connected with America's Puritanical beginnings, both genealogical and esthetic.The Crying of Lot 49 ends, in fact, with what Edward Mendelson calls a "penultimate Pentecostal" moment: the bo... ...nd thus it might be suggested that capital 'A' fiction challenges rather than satisfies, disappoints (that word implying how much of our thinking is shaped by our lifelong desire to escape gravity's wagging finger) rather than reassures.The minimalist Triumvirate rules beneath a banner stolen from Holiday Inn:No Surprises.While what we read with greater effort offers, we sense, greater reward.To push beyond, further, aside; to hack through the jungle despite the fact that the pathway is perfectly clear, asphalted, guard-railed, signposted, edge-trimmed, icon-d, OSHA-inspected, patrolled, mapped, sanitized .... Pynchon's fiction lives, and occasionally (all too seldom) communicates from Out There, out in the jungle, out where the distance between Sign and Signifier is a gap wide enough to break your neck, should you leap into it.Out on the Frontier, still, always.

Mobile Phone Radiation Essay

Introduction Mobile phones had dominated the entire world. Aside from computers, billions of people in every nation around the world also use mobile phones. But why do we enjoy ourselves with that device? What does it have that other things don’t have? Is it bad for us or does it bring advantage to us? For your information, cell phones or mobile phones are devices that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while running around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone number. The first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing around 2.2 pounds (1kg). In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first to be commercially available. From 1990 to 2011, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grow from 12.4 million to over 6 billion, penetrating about 81% of the global population and reaching the bottom of the economic pyramid. Almost all of the people in the world use this kind of device. But why is that so? What does it bring to people to end up using it by many?  Modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services. Those billions of subscribers enjoys the device’s text messaging, MMS, email, internet access, short-range wireless communication (infrared, Bluetooth), business application, gaming, media and photography. So that is why mobile phones are very interesting and enjoyable. Everyone becomes glad everytime we hold our cell phones. But is there a time that we think about how it affects our lives? Did we ever think about its good and bad effects on us? Cell phones are made to communicate to other people easier and faster. It is a big help to the western people during the mid 60’s to 80’s. And as time passes by, more features are being developed. These features bring excitement to people especially teens and adolescents. As a result, cell phone addiction occurs to us people. Cell phone addiction is a very big problem especially to the teens and the youth. People under 17 years of age more likely to do texting than reading their textbooks. It badly affects their grades and some are dropped out of their schools because of their addictiveness. (New York Times, 2007). Addiction also leads to broken families. Some people doesn’t want to be disturbed when they are so busy using their cell phones. They don’t have enough time to talk and socialize with their families. This is not only for families but also for their friends at the same time. Mobile phones also bring bad effects to our health. As said to a report in the New York Times and Philippine Star, mobile phones and computers emit a very strong radiation in a wide range of area and can affect all living things in the said area. (P.S, 2009, pp. 1-2) As study says, these radiations can result in changes to the natural environment. It can also damage living organisms’ DNA which can lead to either a gain of ability or loss of life especially in humans. (Science Daily, 2007) When the first cell phones were made in 1984, there were many health risks. Cell phones emit radiation that could be harmful. No testing had been done prior to releasing these phones to the public. The radiation could possibly lead to brain cancer with long-term use. –Dr. Martin Cooper Cellular phones give off an electromagnetic energy which is a type of non-ionizing radiation. This is similar to the radiation naturally found in thunderstorms. The RF electromagnetic energy that cellular phones create can penetrate through a body. The main factors for the depth of penetration and how much is absorbed come from how close the phone is held and how strong its signal is. It is possible that cell phones can cause serious health issues such as cancer, epileptic seizures or sleep disorders, changes in brain activity, and reaction time, but nothing has been definitely proven. According to BBC, Cell phone users can easily be affected by brain tumors due to the radiations emitted by cell phones. Interestingly, the risk is highest for ipsilateral exposure, meaning tumor on the same side of the brain where phone mostly held. A laboratory study has shown that radio waves from mobile phones do harm body cells and damage DNA.  Studies show that use of cell phones for more than 10 years increase the risk of Glioma. A glioma is a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine. It is called a glioma because it arises from glial cells. The most common site of gliomas is the brain. Also, Nickel has been found in quite a few mobile sets. About 30% of UK population is allergic to nickel. Rash breaks out where the skin comes in contact with the cell phone.  The effect of mobile phone radiation on human health is the subject of recent interest and study, as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world (as of November 2011, there were more than 5.981 billion subscriptions worldwide). Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. Other digital wireless systems, such as data communication networks, produce similar radiation. The WHO has classified mobile phone radiation on the IARC scale into Group 2B – possibly carcinogenic. That means that there â€Å"could be some risk† of carcinogenicity, so additional research into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones needs to be conducted. Some national radiation advisory authorities have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their citizens as a precautionary approach. Many scientific studies have investigated possible health symptoms of mobile phone radiation. These studies are occasionally reviewed by some scientific committees to assess overall risks. A recent assessment was published in 2007 by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). It concludes that the three lines of evidence, viz. animal, in vitro, and epidemiological studies, indicate that  Ã¢â‚¬Å"exposure to RF fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans†. Parts of the radio waves emitted by a mobile telephone handset are absorbed by the human head. The radio waves emitted by a GSM handset can have a peak power of 2 watts, and a US analogue phone had a maximum transmit power of 3.6 watts. Other digital mobile technologies, such as CDMA2000 and D-AMPS, use lower output power, typically below 1 watt. The maximum power output from a mobile phone is regulated by the mobile phone standard and by the regulatory agencies in each country. In most systems the cell phone and the base station check reception quality and signal strength and the power level is increased or decreased automatically, within a certain span, to accommodate different situations, such as inside or outside of buildings and vehicles. The rate at which energy is absorbed by the human body is measured by the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and its maximum levels for modern handsets have been set by governmental regulating agencies in many countries. In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 1 gram of tissue, for the head. In Europe, the limit is 2 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 10 grams of tissue. SAR values are heavily dependent on the size of the averaging volume. Without information about the averaging volume used, comparisons between different measurements cannot be made. Thus, the European 10-gram ratings should be compared among themselves, and the American 1-gram ratings should only be compared among themselves. SAR data for specific mobile phones, along with other useful information, can be found directly on manufacturers’ websites, as well as on third party web sites. It is worth noting that thermal radiation is not comparable to ionizing radiation in that it only increases the temperature in normal matter, it does not break molecular bonds or release electrons from their atoms. One well-understood effect of microwave radiation is dielectric heating, in which any dielectric material (such as living tissue) is heated by rotations of polar molecules induced by the electromagnetic field. In the case of a person using a cell phone, most of the heating effect will occur at the surface of the head, causing its temperature to increase by a fraction of a  degree. In this case, the level of temperature increase is an order of magnitude less than that obtained during the exposure of the head to direct sunlight. The brain’s blood circulation is capable of disposing of excess heat by increasing local blood flow. However, the cornea of the eye does not have this temperature regulation mechanism and exposure of 2–3 hours duration has been reported to produce cataracts in rabbits’ eyes at SAR values from 100-140W/kg, which produced lenticular temperatures of 41 °C. There were no cataracts detected in the eyes of monkeys exposed under similar conditions. Premature cataracts have not been linked with cell phone use, possibly because of the lower power output of mobile phones. Swedish researchers from Lund University (Salford, Brun, Persson, Eberhardt, and Malmgren) have studied the effects of microwave radiation on the rat brain. They found a leakage of albumin into the brain via a permeated blood–brain barrier. This confirms earlier work on the blood–brain barrier by Allan Frey, Oscar and Hawkins, and Albert and Kerns. Other groups have not confirmed these findings in vitro cell studies or whole animal studies. In 2006 a large Danish study about the connection between mobile phone use and cancer incidence was published. It followed over 420,000 Danish citizens for 20 years and showed no increased risk of cancer. The German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt fà ¼r Strahlenschutz) considers this report inconclusive. The following studies of long time exposure have been published: †¢ The 13 nation INTERPHONE project – the largest study of its kind ever undertaken – has now been published and did not find a solid link between mobile phones and brain tumors. The International Journal of Epidemiology published a combined data analysis from a multinational population-based case-control study of glioma and meningioma, the most common types of brain tumor. The authors reported the following conclusion: Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation. In the press release accompanying the release  of the paper, Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said: An increased risk of brain cancer is not established from the data from Interphone. However, observations at the highest level of cumulative call time and the changing patterns of mobile phone use since the period studied by Interphone, particularly in young people, mean that further investigation of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk is merited. A number of independent health and government authorities have commented on this important study including The Australian Centre for Radiofrequency Bioeffects Research (ACRBR) which said in a statement that: Until now there have been concerns that mobile phones were causing increases in brain tumors. Interphone is both large and rigorous enough to address this claim, and it has not provided any convincing scientific evidence of an association between mobile phone use and the development of glioma or meningioma. While the study demonstrates some weak evidence of an association with the highest tenth of cumulative call time (but only in those who started mobile phone use most recently), the authors conclude that biases and errors limit the strength of any conclusions in this group. It now seems clear that if there was an effect of mobile phone use on brain tumor risks in adults, this is likely to be too small to be detectable by even a large multinational study of the size of Interphone. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) which said in a statement that: On the basis of current understanding of the relationship between brain cancer and use of mobile phones, including the recently published data from the INTERPHONE study, ARPANSA: *concludes that currently available data do not warrant any general recommendation to limit use of mobile phones in the adult population, *continues to inform those concerned about potential health effects that they may limit their exposure by reducing call time, by making calls where reception is good, by using hands-free devices or speaker options, or by texting; and *recommends that, due to the lack of any data relating to children and long term use of mobile phones, parents encourage their childr en to limit their exposure by reducing call time, by making calls where reception is good, by using hands-free devices or speaker options, or by texting. The Cancer Council Australia said in a statement that it cautiously welcomed the results of the largest international study to date into mobile phone use, which has found no  evidence that normal use of mobile phones, for a period up to 12 years, can cause brain cancer. Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said findings from the Interphone study, conducted across 13 countries including Australia, were consistent with other research that had failed to find a link between mobile phones and cancer. This supports previous research showing mobile phones don’t damage cell DNA, meaning they can’t cause the type of genetic mutations that develop into cancer,† Professor Olver said. However, it has been suggested that electromagnetic fields associated with mobile phones may play a role in speeding up the development of an existing cancer. The Interphone study found no evidence to support this theory. †¢ A Danish study (2004) that took place over 10 years fou nd no evidence to support a link. However, this study has been criticized for collecting data from subscriptions and not necessarily from actual users. It is known that some subscribers do not use the phones themselves but provide them for family members to use. That this happens is supported by the observation that only 61% of a small sample of the subscribers reported use of mobile phones when responding to a questionnaire. †¢ A Swedish study (2005) that draws the conclusion that â€Å"the data do not support the hypothesis that mobile phone use is related to an increased risk of glioma or meningioma.† †¢ A British study (2005) that draws the conclusion that â€Å"The study suggests that there is no substantial risk of acoustic neuroma in the first decade after starting mobile phone use. However, an increase in risk after longer term use or after a longer lag period could not be ruled out.† †¢ A German study (2006) that states â€Å"In conclusion, no overall increased risk of glioma or meningioma was observed among these cellular phone users; however, for long-term cellular phone users, results need to be confirmed before firm conclusions can be drawn.† †¢A joint study conducted in northern Europe that draws the conclusion that â€Å"Although our results overall do not indicate an increased risk of glioma in relation to mobile phone use, the possible risk in the most heavily exposed part of the brain with long-term use needs to be explored further before firm conclusions can be drawn.† Other studies on cancer and mobile phones are: †¢ A Swedish scientific team at the Karolinska Institute conducted an epidemiological study (2004) that suggested that regular use of a mobile  phone over a decade or more was associated with an increased risk of acoustic neuroma, a type of benign brain tumor. The increase was not noted in those who had used phones for fewer than 10 years. †¢ The INTERPHONE study group from Japan published the results of a study of brain tumor risk and mobile phone use. They used a new approach: determining the SAR inside a tumor by calculating the radio frequency field absorption in the exact tumor location. Cases examined included glioma, meningioma, and pituitary adenoma. They reported that the overall odds ratio (OR) was not increased and that there was no significant trend towards an increasing OR in relation to exposure, as measured by SAR. In 2007, Dr. Lennart Hardell, from Ãâ€"rebro University in Sweden, reviewed published epidemiological papers (2 cohort studies and 16 case-cont rol studies) and found that: †¢ Cell phone users had an increased risk of malignant gliomas. †¢ Link between cell phone use and a higher rate of acoustic neuromas. †¢ Tumors are more likely to occur on the side of the head that the cell handset is used. †¢ One hour of cell phone use per day significantly increases tumor risk after ten years or more. In a February 2008 update on the status of the INTERPHONE study IARC stated that the long term findings ‘†¦could either be causal or artifactual, related to differential recall between cases and controls. †¢ A self-published and non-peer reviewed meta-study by Dr. Vini Khurana, an Australian neurosurgeon, presented what it termed â€Å"increasing body of evidence †¦ for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumors† and that it â€Å"is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking†.This was criticized as ‘†¦ an unbalanced analysis of the literature, which is also selective in support of the authorâ€℠¢s claims. A publication titled â€Å"Public health implications of wireless technologies† cites that Lennart Hardell found age is a significant factor. The report repeated the finding that the use of cell phones before age 20 increased the risk of brain tumors by 5.2, compared to 1.4 for all ages. A review by Hardell et al. concluded that current mobile phones are not safe for long-term exposure. In a time trends study in Europe, conducted by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, no significant increase in brain tumors among cell phone users was found between the years of 1998 and 2003. â€Å"The lack of a trend change in incidence from 1998 to 2003 suggests that the induction period relating mobile phone use to brain tumors exceeds  5–10 years, the increased risk in this population is too small to be observed, the increased risk is restricted to subgroups of brain tumors or mobile phone users, or there is no increased risk.† On 31 May 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). The IARC assessed and evaluated available literature and studies about the carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), and found the evidence to be â€Å"limited for carcinogenicity of RF-EMF, based on positive associations between glioma and acoustic neuroma and exposure†. The conclusion of the IARC was mainly based on the INTERPHONE study, which found an increased risk for glioma in the highest category of heavy users (30 minutes per day over a 10†year period), although no increased risk was found at lower exposure and other studies could not back up the findings. The evidence for other types of cancer was found to be â€Å"inadequate†. Some members of the Working Group opposed the conclusions and considered the current evidence in humans still as â€Å"inadequate†, citing inc onsistencies between the assessed studies. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that while cell phone use increased substantially over the period 1992 to 2008 (from nearly zero to almost 100 percent of the population), the U.S. trends in glioma incidence did not mirror that increase. A 2009 study examined the effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) emitted by standard GSM cell phones on the cognitive functions of humans. The study confirmed longer (slower) response times to a spatial working memory task when exposed to RFR from a standard GSM cellular phone placed next to the head of male subjects, and showed that longer duration of exposure to RFR may increase the effects on performance. Right-handed subjects exposed to RFR on the left side of their head on average had significantly longer response times when compared to exposure to the right side and sham-exposure. Some users of mobile handsets have reported feeling several unspecific symptoms during and after its use; ranging from burning and tingling sensations in the skin of the head and extremities,fatigue, sleep disturbances, dizziness, loss of mental attention, reaction times and memory retentiveness, headaches, malaise, tachycardia (heart palpitations), to disturbances of the digestive system. Reports have noted that all of these symptoms can also be attributed to stress and that current research cannot  separate the symptoms from nocebo effects. A meta-analysis (2008) of 63 in vitro and in vivo studies from the years 1990–2005 concluded that RF radiation was genotoxic only in some conditions and that the studies reporting positive effects evidenced publication bias. A meta-study (2009) of 101 publications on genotoxicity of RF electromagnetic fields showed that 49 reported a genotoxic effect and 42 not. The authors found â€Å"ample evidence that RF-EMF can alter the genetic material of exposed cells in vivo and in vitro and in more than one way.† In 1995, in the journal Bioelectromagnetics, Henry Lai and Narenda P. Singh reported damaged DNA after two hours of microwave radiation at levels deemed safe according to U.S. government standards. In December 2004, a pan-European study named REFLEX (Risk Evaluation of Potential Environmental Hazards from Low Energy Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Exposure Using Sensitive in vitro Methods), involving 12 collaborating laboratories in several countries showed some compelling evidence of DNA damage of cells in in-vitro cultures, when exposed between 0.3 to 2 watts/kg, whole-sample average. There were indications, but not rigorous evidence of other cell changes, including damage to chromosomes, alterations in the activity of certain genes and a boosted rate of cell division. Research published in 2004 by a team at the University of Athens had a reduction in reproductive capacity in fruit flies exposed to 6 minutes of 900 MHz pulsed radiation for five days. Subsequent research, again conducted on fruit flies, was published in 2007, with the same exposure pattern but conducted at both 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, and had similar changes in reproductive capacity with no significant difference between the two frequencies. Following additional tests published in a third article, the authors stated they thought their research suggested the changes were â€Å"†¦due to degeneration of large numbers of egg chambers after DNA fragmentation of their constituent cells †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Australian research conducted in 2009 by subjecting in vitro samples of human spermatozoa to radio-frequency radiation at 1.8 GHz and specific absorption rates (SAR) of 0.4 to 27.5 W/kg showed a correlation between increasing SAR and decreased motility and vitality in sperm, increased oxidative stress and 8-Oxo-2†²-deoxyguanosine markers, stimulating DNA base adduct formation and increased DNA fragmentation. Not only in our health cell phones affects us but also in our work and studies. Along with their books and school  supplies, many students make their daily trip to school with their trusty mobile phone. These pocket-sized tools can do anything from make a standard phone call to surf the web. The presence of cell phones presents a host of options and challenges for today’s students. Mobile phones can be a helpful academic tool, or a hurtful academic disruption depending upon the attitude and use pattern of the student owner. As we have read an article from the Manila Standards Today, mobile phones are undeniably convenient. Because of mobile phones, students never have to look for a pay phone or wonder about the location of a friend. These ubiquitous communication tools allow students to reach their peers and their parents instantly. Everything from ordering a pizza to calling to check movie times is easier with a cell phone, as the communication device you need is right at your finger tips. Picture-taking and Internet surfing are readily available on most cell phones. This aids students in gathering the information that they need for school or accessing their email or school website. Students benefit from this technology availability as it allows them to create more polished academic products with less effort than before the ready availability of cell phones. Many parents argue that cell phones keep students safe. A parent is never more than a phone call away when a student is carrying their cell phone. The presence of a cell phone also ensures that students can call parents or emergency personnel in the case of an unforeseen emergency. While most students will never have to use their cell phone as a safety device, the knowledge that it could be used as such puts parents at ease and keeps them paying the monthly cell phone bill. The biggest lament of teachers in regards to cell phones is that they lead to student distraction and off task behavior. Texting a friend is a tempting diversion that many students select over listening to a lecture or completing a class assignment. If not silenced, cell phones can ring during class, drawing everyone’s attention away from the lesson and disrupting the flow of learning. Many teachers worry that this added distraction negatively impacts students’ school performance as it stops them from dedicating their full attention to their studies. While useful, many of the features of cell phones can also be used to engage in inappropriate behaviors. Taking inappropriate pictures and then â€Å"sexting† them to a boyfriend or girlfriend is a growing problem. These pictures often end up in the wrong hands, which leads to others gaining  access to the private photos. Teens often fail to recognize the long-term implications of inappropriate behavior and engage in the behavior without considering the consequences. The consequences for inappropriate behavior are real and long-lasting. Once distributed, sexted photos are almost impossible to contain. The presence of these racy photos can limit the teens options in the future and severely mar their reputations. Society has come to a point where the idea of living without cell phones seems ludicrous. Students desire cell phones in order to sustain contact with friends. The parents of students want their children to have them for security purposes. Cell phones carry multiple benefits, but with this technology lies a dualism that teeters precariously between the benefits and negative effects of cell phone usage — especially with students. –Heath Wright Gaby Badre, M.D., Ph.D., of S ahlgren’s Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden conducted research on the affects of cell phone usage on sleep patterns in teens. The research focused on two groups: a control group of three men and seven women, juxtaposed by a variable group of three men and eight women. When the control group is compared against the variable group, Badre found that teens with excessive cell phone habits exhibit chronic restlessness, a reliance on stimulating drinks, difficulty falling asleep at night, disrupted sleep and an inclination toward fatigue and stress. Children, teens and even young adults are prone to distraction with cell phones. In the classroom and out of school, cell phones provide students an instant network of communication and entertainment. Inside the classroom, students are distracted from the lessons to text, play games and, if they are very daring, call other people. Cell phone ringers, alarms and ring tones disrupt the flow of lessons and the attention of every student in the room and the teacher. According to the National School Safety and Security Services, text messaging can be an aid for cheating st udents. Also, the camera in a cell phone can be used to photograph exams. The camera also can be used to photograph other students in a way that is a violation of privacy. In the case of school emergencies, cell phones can prove more of a hindrance than a help. Cell phones have been used to call in bomb threats. In many districts, tracking a cell phone is not easily done. Also, students’ use of cell phones in a school emergency can possibly trigger a real bomb if an explosive device is on the school’s property. Cell phone usage by students during a school emergency can  obstruct public safety personnel from controlling the event. Parents can be alerted to the emergency before public safety personnel have a chance to contain the situation. Parents can inadvertently increase the chaos by showing up at an imprudent time. Cell phone systems are prone to overload during a real crisis. This has been proven during disasters like the World Trade Center attacks and the Columbine shootings. Several students using cell phones all at once can add to the overload and paralyze a system that may be needed by crisis teams, public safety personnel and school administrators. This may in turn magnify the crisis and increase the chance of tragedy. Cell phones can also affect our daily lives. Mobile phones are also known as lifesavers as they can help people in emergencies. If you get stuck in the middle of the road and find no one for help, you can just use a mobile phone and call for help. Mobile phones are comfortable way of communication over a long distance. Along with the obvious convenience and quick access to help in emergencies big and small, mobile phones can be both economical and essential for travelers trying to stay connected. In Japan, mobile phone companies provide immediate notification of earthquakes and other natural disasters to their customers free of charge. In the event of an emergency, disaster response crews can locate trapped or injured people using the signals from their mobile phones or the small detonator of flare in the battery of every cell phone; an interactive menu accessible through the phone’s Internet browser notifies the company if the user is safe or in distress. We have also been downloading Java games and video clips to our mobile phones. Several online mobile phone shops have come up to cater to this increasing demand for the best mobile phone handsets and the most reliable and cost-effective services in the use of the same. Along with all these advantages there are many disadvantages for mobile phone usage. Mobile-phone use while driving is common. It is generally agreed that using a hand-held mobile phone while driving is a distraction that brings risk of road traffic accidents. So we need to use hands free sets to avoid such hazards. â€Å"The digital age is upon us. And who would have thought it would happen so fast? It seems like only a few years ago when owning a cell phone was a status symbol. Now the device has been marketed as a necessity that we all need to get through the day. In the early days of cell phones I remember that people used to treat them in the same manner that they treated credit  cards, only for an emergency. Cell phones used to be very large and were kept in people’s automobiles. Nobody ever seemed to discuss wireless plans, or the capabilities of their phones. The only question people asked were, why did you bring your cordless phone to work? That seemed to be the only other time anybody really saw a phone with that appearance. It wasn’t until later models that folded for convenience that it caught on. Marketing is a powerful tool along with innovation. Marketing helps get the word out on the new products. I look at it as the worm on the fishing hook, a few people nibble but after many studies they seem to always get us to bite. We eventually do bite, but I am surprised at the quick innovation that seems to occur at a rapid pace every year. As soon as I received my new LG cell phone, it was soon replaced with a sleeker more attractive phone with more technological features. It seems almost too hard to keep up with. All the companies are trying harder and harder for our hard earned dollars. But it is not as if they are holding out as long as they can anymore. Now that the market is in a heated competition between such companies as Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint/Nextel, At&T/Cingular. Many of the companies have combined resources to make forward progress. When the public thought that phones with color and text capabilities was the best thing since sliced bread, out came phones with internet and navigation on the go. There are live updates for sports, news and other services. You can check movie times prices for a new car or ask how your mother is doing all with one amazing device. The only issue that I seem to have with technology is privacy. There is no more privacy it seems. Every conversation is an open forum or at least it seems that way. It may not be direct but people hear what you talk about, then transfer that conversation and place it into their own which can be a fun debate or a nice way to break the ice. However the rules for doing so are unwritten. You do not simply eves drop and then walk up and approach the person biased on their conversation. The difficult part also is that you can no longer say that you didn’t receive their text or call. Many companies give the user features or indicators to tell you if the message was successful or not. Short of saying your phone was off there is literally no excuse for not answering a phone The difficult part about the digital age is that there are no rules. We all have our own personal expectations of how people should act in a public setting but that is the most frustrating part.  We all want the latest technology, but I do not think that we are ready to accept what we lose because of it. Yes we do gain so many abilities on the go. We are able to do so much now that we never thought was possible in the past. We are all now a part of this technological revolution. What we forget in all the hustle and bustle is all those things that we lose. In our attempt to have the hottest technology such as the Iphone with the ability to go on to the Internet, watch YouTube at will whenever and wherever we desire. What we lose is the peace and quiet of the past. No longer can you enter a coffee shop people watch, and engage in conversation and listen to some soothing jazz. Those days are long gone, nowadays we have to ask people as a courtesy to turn their phones of, and many people still do not adhere to these requests. No more can you sit in a cozy place such as a cafà © or coffee shop as mentioned above. There is now cell phones buzzing, ringing and the attention is taken away from the environment but into the power we hold in our hands. The technological age is upon us. And we are able to mold what our society will turn into. I never thought that I made a difference or that I would be a part of a unique generation. If you look around though we are all a part of this new age. We can shape and mold it as we wish. This is only one small aspect of a larger topic. This is how cell phones have made a small step, yet a large impact as a result on how we all life and interact with the world around us. We now look as if we are talking to ourselves, and its funny yet practical. We complain when others interrupt our dinner, yet at times we are victims of the same crimes we accost others for. Phones have gone from a burden due to size, to a burden due to its functionality and various abilities to do so much. Perhaps Uncle Ben (Spiderman’s uncle) had it right when he said â€Å"with great power, comes great responsibility.† I think this is something we should all take the time to think about. How far something you use has come from when you were younger to now and the impact it has made on your life or the lives of others.† (RaMediaNJ, 08/08/2007, Newsweek) Bibliography †¢ http://www.wikipedia.com/ wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Hands-free Cellphones are Safer† Manila Standards Today, Manila, Philippines (Aug. 2000): pp. 1-2 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Hands-free kits cut cellphone radiation† Malaya (Aug. 2000): p. 13 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Texting than Reading† Philippine Star (Feb. 2003): p. B5 †¢ http://thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.library †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"MMS vs. Cheaters† Philippine Star, Manila, Philippines (Feb. 2003) †¢New York Times, NY, USA (Mar. 2007) †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Owners of Older Cell Phones risk Brain Tumor† USA Today, National Cancer Institute †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Pinoys as Romantic† Philippine Star (Aug. 2010) pp. 3-4 †¢Horst, Heather . Miller, Daniela. The Cellphone: An Anthropology of Communication, Berg (Oct. 2006) †¢Agar, J. (2003). Constant Touch: A Global History of the Mobile Phone. Cambridge, Icon Books.